16 September 2007

Germany finished their EuroBasket 2007 performance with an 80-71 win over Croatia in the 5-6 classification game.

Croatia tried to ride the wave of their good performance last night, and led for almost 30 minutes, but once Germany took over the game went in one direction.

16 September 2007

Having both secured a spot in the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament with wins on Saturday, Germany and Croatia will meet Sunday to decide between fifth and sixth place at EuroBasket 2007.

Both teams had struggled to win games prior to their wins on Saturday though Croatia had lost four straight by slim margins while for the Germans it was the second straight time they had bounced back from a hefty defeat, having fallen to hosts Spain by 28 the night before.

The glorious days of Croatian basketball came right after the country’s independence with two EuroBasket bronze medals: one in 1993 and another two years later. But all that success appeared to be a false indication about the future for Croatian basketball.

The famous Croatian Hall of Fame Coach Mirko Novosel once said of Kasun: “Mario Kasun is the European Shaquille O’Neal!” During the 2005 EuroBasket, Mario was one of the best centers, but he got injured in the first quarter of the quarter-final against Spain. He spent one more season in the NBA with the Orlando Magic, but in the summer of 2006, acknowledging his playing time wasn't increasing, Mario decided to sign for Barcelona where he could play a bigger role.